The Harrying of Myr
In late 281 AC, the khalasar of Khal Horro arrived beneath the walls of Myr numbering in the tens of thousands. The forces of House Targaryen sallied forth to meet them, ending in a titanic battle beneath the walls of the city. Prelude For many moons the dothraki had begun to grow powerful and restless-- ever a harbinger of bloodshed in central Essos. Khal Horro, Khal Azho, and Khal Viqallo formed three massive khalasars, each numbering in the tens of thousands. Horro, Viqallo, and Azho raided progressively further to the west of the Great Grass Sea. Viqallo demanded tribute of Qohor and rode for Andalos. Azho raided Qohor and southern Andalos, demanding tributes of Norvos and Pentos. Horro made for Myr, seeking to demand tribute as Azho and Viqallo had from their targets. Persistent raids by Horro's khalasar drew the attention of the Targaryens, however, and in a Council of Seven the decision was made to end the threat of the dothraki to the Kingdom of the Three Daughters. The Lord Protector and much of the military strength of the Three Daughters sailed from Tyrosh to Myr shortly thereafter, prepared for war. The Battle Lord Protector Maekar Targaryen, Archon Vogan Nestoris, and Minister of War Tregar Drahar raised 43,000 men from Tyrosh and Myr, along with a godly number of sellswords. Confident in their commanders, their numerical superiority, and their cause, the Targaryen host assembled on the field before Myr. Lord Protector Maekar rode in the vanguard with his nephew, Brynden Targaryen, along with much of the Onyx Legion and its commanders. Drahar, one of the greatest commanders in Essos, commanded the center. The rearguard came under the command of Archon Nestoris. Almost from the outset the battle went poorly for the Targaryens. Early on Minister Drahar received a mortal wound, succeeded in command by Ser Garlan Tyrell. The center never recovered from the early and devastating loss, which prompted a rapid commitment of the reserves under Baelor Targaryen. As the center crumbled the vanguard began to take worse and worse losses, leaving the Lord Protector and his heir in grave peril. Maekar Targaryen fell to a volley of arrows, and his heir survived to duel and defeat Khal Horro before himself succumbing to wounds. With the losses of Drahar, Maekar, and Brynden on the field, Vogan Nestoris turned back to the city gates and fled. Taking the ships of two prominent merchant families, he and his sellswords made sail for Tyrosh. This for all intents ended the Harrying of Myr, as the Targaryen host was too broken to continue fighting and left the field. Aftermath As the Targaryen host retreated behind the walls of Myr, the true scope of the disaster began to set in. Of the Targaryen host, over seventeen-thousand remained on the field. Maekar and Brynden Targaryen as well as Tregar Drahar had been carried back to Myr in the retreat, all deceased. Of the dothraki, a mere eight-thousand lay dead including Khal Horro and one of his Kos, Loqqo. As the battle drew to a close, however, Khal Azho arrived from the north. In the aftermath Azho demanded a duel with Horro, only to find his rival Khal had perished on the field. Horro's replacement, Khal Losho, emerged instead and obliged Khal Azho. In a rather decisive display Azho dispatched Losho, absorbing all but a small fraction of Khal Horro's khalasar into his own. In a separate sort of reorganization, House Targaryen began to search for its new head. With the deaths of Maekar and Brynden in rapid succession, Dark Sister passed to Baelor Targaryen. In place of the expert cadre of commanders that had ridden into battle, by sunset Valarr Targaryen and Ser Garlan Tyrell remained as the only surviving leaders of men to aide the new Bloodraven. Khal Azho brought forth his siege weapons, a peculiarity for a dothraki that left the surviving Targaryens scrambling to prepare for another attack they hadn't expected. In the proceeding days both House Targaryen and the khalasar of Khal Azho prepared for the Siege of Myr. __NEWSECTIONLINK__ Category:Wars and Battles Category:Battle